Ideas for sand sifting critters?

[RobertN]

Hi--
I'm concerned that maybe my sand bed may be a source of nitrates in my tank and I wanted to put some critter(s) in that could help keep the entirety of my sand bed from becoming too stagnant. I tried Nassarius snails and Tonga fighting conch's, but my Melanurus Wrasse decided they would be a nice snack. I tried a sand starfish, but it didn't last longer than a month or so in the tank.
I do have a paired Randall's Goby-Tiger Pistol Shrimp, and for a while after first introducing them into the tank, they were going all around and doing a fine job of moving the sand around in pretty much the whole tank. However, most certainly because I had had a bunch of active/aggressive-eating fish (particularly a small blue tang and a medium-size yellow tang), the Goby and Pistol Shrimp decided to find a spot that was more out-of-the-way and take up what is clearly a longer-term residence in back of my tank on the right side. So they have not been moving sand around anywhere outside of the local area in which they have now made camp.
I thought about putting in another Goby, but I have a 100 gallon cube, so I am worried that the tank isn't long enough to avoid possible territory problems between the current Randall's Goby and any new one I might add.
Any suggestions? Thanks much in advance!
Robert

 

[AlexG]

How old is the tank? How high are the nitrates? What type of filtration are you using? How deep is the sand? What type of sand is it? I have had great luck with sand stars and the fact that yours did not make it long is a concern. There are lots of sand cleaning critters out there but I can't make a recommendation until I understand the system better.

 

[Terry Lanig]

You could try a horseshoe crab

 

[RobertN]

Understood. The tank was started in November of last year, and it was actually started using about 90% cultured saltwater from someone who has a business selling fish/corals and had provided me water from several of his longstanding tanks.
I don't believe the nitrates were as high before a recent incident--the power went out on my tank (due to a bad switch on a power strip) while I was on vacation for 4 days and I lost about half of my fish from that--but now they are at 30. I did two 20% water changes in the past 10 days and will do weekly 20% changes for the next 3 weeks. I have a sump below my main tank (I'm guessing 20-30 gallons). The water from the main tank into the sump goes through a filter sock. I also have a protein skimmer in the sump and I put in a Chemipure carbon bag about 3 weeks ago.
The sand bed is about 2 and a half inches deep.....it's fine grade live sand (I think we used CaribSea live aragonite, but I wouldn't swear to it).

Is the horseshoe crab reefsafe? I've heard that they can be a problem when they get bigger. Also, is my 100g tank large enough for one when it does get bigger?

 

[ahmed.boomer]

I use a conch and large nassarius snails. I don't like disturbing the sand bed too much though since the microfauna are established in it.

You can slowly turn over parts of your sand bed when you clean or syphon some out. You don't want to turn the sand over too fast. It took me a year, but I went from a 2.5" sand bed to a 1".

 

[Downbeach]

I kept a DSB of about 7" to provide a proper depth/environment for both aerobic and anaerobic bacteria, which are needed for a more complete nitrogen cycle. In your case, the depth is more of a no man's land, meaning that you have a good environment for aerobic (nitrifying) bacteria, but isn't quite enough for a proportional amount of anaerobic (denitrifying) bacteria, to fully complete the nitrogen cycle, leaving you with excess amount of NO3 to deal with. If I were you, I'd either add more substrate incrementally to increase it to about 4" to give you a better environment for the denitrifying bacteris, or decrease the depth to around 1" and keep it for asthetic reasons. Here and here is what I'd recommend if you want to keep a DSB, and add them as boosters every couple years. Along with a fighting conch, and some Cerith and Nassarius Vibrex snails. If you go with the DSB, you'll be better served to stay away from anything that will prey on the infauna that are needed to keep it healty, so any sand sifting critters, i.e. sea stars, some gobies, etc., should be avoided. Also,if you go with the SSB ~ 1" you should periodically siphon the bed with a gravel siphon, to help keep it clean, if a DSB, don't touch it...leave the cleaning to the critters.

 

[AlexG]

A Sea cucumber would be one of my recommendations unless you plan to go with the DSB route.

 

[jade2122]

Sand sifting starfish and horseshoe crabs are not usually long lived in most systems. They both also eat all of the beneficial microfauna out of the sandbed that you want to keep. You are best with nassarius snails, conchs, cerith snails, cucumbers and a smaller sand sifting goby (should get along fine with existing goby). Please stay away from sand sifting stars and horseshoe crabs as most of them just die in captivity after a short time period and they really shouldn't be brought into the aquarium trade.

 

[RobertN]

Hi All--
Thanks for all of the responses and info! So I think I will go with a shallow sand bed rather than a DSB. Regarding Nassarius snails and Conch's , I would love to use them, but as I mentioned in my initial post, my Melanurus Wrasse eats them rather quickly. I have the dwarf Ceriths. I know they live in the sand and come out at night, but do they really do much to move around the sand? I was disappointed in them in that they don't really ever clean my LR, they just go onto the glass walls of my tank and clean off film algae. At least they don't get eaten by my Wrasse.
I have seen Sea Cucumbers and know that some of the Holothurias are cleaners of the top of the sand, which would be great. And I have been interested in getting one, but I worry that my Wrasse might start to pick at it, stress it, and then cause it to stop eating and eventually die.......which would then put some nasty compounds into my tank. Does anyone know about the compatibility between Melanurus Wrasses and Sea Cucumbers?
I also worry that I would not do a proper job (from a lack of knowledge) of covering up the overflow box and the powerhead to prevent the cucumber from committing suicide. Anyone have a good resource for that information?
I love the idea of a smaller sand-sifting Goby--any suggestions? Also, is 1 inch of sand really enough for my current Goby and pistol shrimp?

Thanks again! Robert

 

[jade2122]

The wrasse should not pick at a cucumber as they are not a tasty creature lol. A regular sand sifting cucumber can do a lot of clean up work in a tank and they are not toxic the same way your "fancy" cucumbers are if they die. Yes still not great for a tank for them to die but not a huge deal if they do. Usually a sand sifting cucumber will stay along the sand bed and live rock so getting into power heads and overflows is a minimal risk. 1" sand bed really is not enough to keep a pistol shrimp happy, they will survive but not thrive. If you do want to cover up your overflow just as a precaution gutter guard from Home Depot or Lowes works great and still allows plenty of flow through it. Sand sifting goby I would go with a Diamond goby as they have a better survival record and do not spread the sand all over the rock like Goldenheaded Sleepers do.

 

[Oceansize]

I've tried everything you have, and the hands-down winner when it comes to efficient sand sifting is my diamond goby. I have a ton of various snails, and one diamond goby does a better job than all of them combined. I don't know how to help you get yours back to work, but the goby is where I'd concentrate your efforts, IME.

 

[RobertN]

Thanks for the info about the Sea Cucumber, jade2122! Would a typical Tiger Tail Sea Cucumber be the kind you are talking about?

As for the Diamond Goby, I like the idea in theory. For one thing, I have indeed read that they are great at sifting through sand and they tend to keep their sifting mainly on the sand bed rather than broadcasting the sand from up in the water column. And there's an LFS near me that has had some for 1-2 months now, so they should be well past the stage of transportation stress. Also, I don't recall exactly how much they were selling them for, but I do recall thinking that it was a pretty good price. So all of that's great. But......I see that the ones in the LFS are already a little bigger than my Randall's Goby and I've read where the Diamond Gobies can get to be 5-6 inches (which is bigger than the Randall's Goby is listed to get to). And in my 100g cube, I'm worried that there will be fighting and problems with territory between the two Gobies. My cube is 24T x 30W x 24D. What do you think?
Robert

 

[jade2122]

Yes a tiger tail cucumber would work and then there are just basic sand sifting ones as well. They are pretty cheap usually $8-$10 each. I do not think there will be any real concern with mixing the gobies. At first the sand sifter may want to try and use their burrow but I'm sure they will all work it out and find their boundaries. I know many people that have a goby and pistol pair along with a sand sifter in a smaller sized tank with no long term issues

 

[Oceansize]

Thanks for the info about the Sea Cucumber, jade2122! Would a typical Tiger Tail Sea Cucumber be the kind you are talking about?

As for the Diamond Goby, I like the idea in theory. For one thing, I have indeed read that they are great at sifting through sand and they tend to keep their sifting mainly on the sand bed rather than broadcasting the sand from up in the water column. And there's an LFS near me that has had some for 1-2 months now, so they should be well past the stage of transportation stress. Also, I don't recall exactly how much they were selling them for, but I do recall thinking that it was a pretty good price. So all of that's great. But......I see that the ones in the LFS are already a little bigger than my Randall's Goby and I've read where the Diamond Gobies can get to be 5-6 inches (which is bigger than the Randall's Goby is listed to get to). And in my 100g cube, I'm worried that there will be fighting and problems with territory between the two Gobies. My cube is 24T x 30W x 24D. What do you think?
Robert

Yeah I don't believe gobies are too aggressive in that regard. My LFS had a bunch all in one tank and they seemed to get along fine. Mine did stir up quite a bit of fluff into the water column, but that died down after about two or three days. Which is, of course, proof that he can cycle all the sand in my 92 gallon in about three days, since all the sifting he's done since then does not stir up nearly as much fluff as it used to.

 

[Myka]

The "big" Diamond Goby will have no qualms with the "little" Randall's Goby. They aren't conspecifics. I also love Diamond Gobies for sand sifters. Be sure to pick one that eats prepared foods as not all will.

 

[Triggreef]

If your unable to do conchs then diamond goby is the next best. They actually would be better although they tend to make big piles of sand which annoys me. I recently lost one and can't believe how fast my sand bed went down hill. The goby really kept it spotless.

 

[RobertN]

Thanks everyone for the input! I will check into getting the Diamond Goby and see how it goes having that in my tank. I will keep the Sea Cucumber in the back of my mind and get it if I feel the Diamond Goby isn't doing what I need it to.

By the way, speaking of unusual invertebrates, I was just at Malibu beach with my family on Monday and a fair number of two different types of local Sea Hares were washing up on shore while we were there. My kids and I went around collecting them and I tossed them back into the ocean as far from the shore as I could send them It was pretty neat seeing them fresh out of their natural environment and it seemed interesting timing considering how I was just contemplating about getting a Sea Cucumber for my tank.

Robert

 

[Lynn52]

I like nassarius snails. I also have a diamond gobi.

 

[Mearle]

I've tried everything you have, and the hands-down winner when it comes to efficient sand sifting is my diamond goby. I have a ton of various snails, and one diamond goby does a better job than all of them combined. I don't know how to help you get yours back to work, but the goby is where I'd concentrate your efforts, IME.

+1 on the diamond goby best sand sifter compared to anything but they can be ***** and cover things lol